Musipedia Of Metal

As they finished up, we shuffled back inside for local act Oskaria (8) who bring Lovecraftian influenced heavy sludge/death doom, much like Conan, this three piece are crushing, trading off shouted vocals across their massive grooves. It was the first showcase of how varied 'extreme' metal can be as while the first band brought short and violent extremity. Oskaria are slower, more deliberate, with atmospheric passages that move into horror inspired ear drum rattling riffs.

As these rattled around our brain it was outside again for another local act, disgusting death metal crew Embodiment (7). Veterans of the local scene they pulled a big crowd and as soon as their tech death began you could instantly see why they are held in high regard locally. Intense and full of virtuosity, the beats were blasted, riffs whipped up the pits and vocals growled, playing mostly their new EP Cryptomorph, it reminded me why watching Embodiment has always been such a disgusting pleasure.

Far away from local though, next it was a Scottish death metal assault from Scordatura (7). Inspired by Vader and Suffocation, along with Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus, there's a myriad of classic death metal influences in their sound, which are all blended together through a tornado of blasts, growls and string abuse. A few modern touches creep in from the tech scene but mostly Scordatura are a homage to the best of death metal, channeled in their own impressive way.

Shifting back outside for the Manchester slam of Visions Of Disfigurement (7) and you know it's slam, you know what you're going to get but if you love to throw down in the pit while a band play songs with horrific titles then they'll definitely be the band for you. I don't know what else I can say about it, slam on stage is always more exciting than it is on record but there's certainly a 'sound' in the genre and VOD bring it completely.

Speaking of complete, it finally seems that Welsh atmospheric black metal crew Ofnus (9) are the complete unit they have always promised to be, on stage. With their new vocalist they have been given an injection of intensity and intimidation, Brendan stalking the stage, wide eyed and aloof.

As is usually the case with a band who have, sprawling songs that features numerous shifts in tone and pace, they only managed to play four tracks, but two of those were new tracks from their upcoming third album. Now I've heard these before but they come refined again in Bristol, with more potency, power, atmosphere and ferocity, the room held captivated by Ofnus as they moved towards the closer of Zenith Dolor which, as it normally does, brought even the most hardened metal fan to tears.

With cheeks wiped and protestations that it was foam from the beer, you can't help but be cheered up by Foetal Juice (8) who bring songs of gore, murder and perversion all delivered with and old school death metal aggression.

The Manchester unit tip their hat to Cannibal Corpse and to Deicide, unleashing disgusting death metal that cries out for Hawaiian shirts and going absolutely mental in the dust of the outside stage. Again the titles are something to behold and while your gran may be shocked there's definitely a lot of filthy fun to be had.

A more serious tone to follow though as The Infernal Sea (8) returned from a hiatus and long term fans of the band may have been shocked when they stepped on to the stage without the plague doctor masks that have become so engrained with their image.

This is deliberate choice as after the festival they explained that there are now too many masked bands today and that they didn't want to be considered amongst these gimmick acts so they want to let their music say everything rather than their visual image.

A noble thing to do and as if to continue the idea of rebirth this was a special show celebrating 10 years since their second album The Great Mortality was released, choosing to play the record in full, perhaps may alienate newer fans but for a lot this is where the journey started.

So to my eyes and ears it was only right to christen this new era by revisiting who they were a decade ago but stripped of the visual distractions. I will say it worked as I've not seen them sound this ferocious.

With The Infernal Sea in their new iteration, welcomed back warmly we rode a wave of excitement for another exclusive set, this time from international brutal slam crew Kraanium (8) who were playing a UK exclusive show (probably due to the geographical differences between the band).

You know how I said slam was slam? Yeah maybe not this time as with a crowd full of inflatable hammers, Kraanium are certainly fun visually but their music is more than just disgusting grooves and gutter dwelling vocals, there's a technicality beneath the brutality, a constant volatility that kept the circle pits coming and the riffs as battering as a sledgehammer (non inflatable).

I'm never normally a fan of the whole slam genre but Kraanium are an exception to the rule, they're just too fun to ignore but it was back inside for a band who trade off on fun for mysticism and atmospheric intensity, as Scottish black metal apparition Fuath (8) made their way to Bristol.

Led by Andy Marshall who also spends his time with folk driven black metal act Saor, Fuath are a heavier, more uncomfortable prospect. Still drawing inspiration from bleak winters and mysticism, they are an atmospheric black metal band who bring melancholy to the evening, filtered through intense black metal work outs.

The perfect soundtrack to the setting sun, Fuath set a glacial tone ready for the indoor stage headliners, however first a secret needed to be revealed and it didn't stay a secret for long that it was the mighty South Wales death metal maniacs in Desecration (8) that stepped into Benighted's place at extremely short notice.

Almost two months before their scheduled return gig, this 'warm up' reminded me just how much I'd missed watching them live. Formed by Ollie Jones (vocals/guitars) in 1993, the Newport death crew have been through countless members over the years, resulting in long periods of in activity, mainly because Ollie and drummer Mike Hourihan are both part of Extreme Noise Terror.

Their most recent live hiatus has led to the recruitment of Charlie Rogers on bass and the trio took the outdoor stage by storm with their snarling, feral death metal now given some lead bass for added potency, this is death born from the 90's scene full of grind and gutturals, it's about as old school as it comes.

Always good to see Desecration and while some may have been disappointed about Benighted not playing you cannot argue with the calibre (and geographical closeness) of their replacement, more Desecration shows please!

Finally the entire mass of Bristol's (and beyond) metal community made their way onto the once consecrated ground of the Trinity Centre to witness the first live ritual in Bristol for 22 years from arguably the most important Greek metal band in history. Co-Founders of the Hellenic Black Metal scene they have transcended it to become a band who appeal to broad selection of the extreme metal crowd, adapting their early black metal rawness into the symphonic, cinematic blackned death metal band they are today.

Usually performing on stages much bigger than this seeing Rotting Christ (10) in such an intimate space was absolutely magnificent, surrounded by long time fans, newer converts, members of the other band who revere them as well as one or two Greeks who were absolutely losing their shit, Rotting Christ commanded the stage as soon as they stepped foot on it.

Brothers Sakis (vocals/guitar) and Themis (drums) Tolis still lead the band to this day, the living embodiment of the cry of "Non Serviam" that Rotting Christ have been living for 37 years! The irony of them performing in a former church was not lost on anyone but they were all about business, Sakis and Themis flanked by the two Kostas', lead guitarist Foukarakis and bassist Heliotis as they kicked off the set with Dies Irae.

Drawing mainly from their newer, I mean from 2010's Aealo onwards, material it was the perfect set for anyone who hasn't seen them in those 22 years since they last played Bristol but has watched them ascend to the lofty position they are at today, which has off the back of that album. Being so close to the band meant that you could see every emotion on the bands face, Sakis especially was having the time of his life, playing up to the crowd both at the front and at the side of stage.

For the long time fans there was of course older material including the ever present Non Serviam along with King Of The Stellar War but every song was greeted as if it was an old friend and while they've been away from Bristol for a long time, Rotting Christ came roaring back like they have something to prove and remind us what we've been missing.

An imperious headline set to top of a stellar day of music. Bristol Extreme Fest was a perfectly curated day of the best extreme music the UK and beyond has to offer, with special sets, returns and a headline set that will be difficult to top, we'll be keeping a close eye on the plans for 2027, but you should definitely be there!

Whilst Brent was considered by many to be the heart and soul of the band, personally I felt that his influence and involvement had diminished over time. 

There has been that falling out, and he left them behind. I’m not interested in the whys or wherefores of that, I like others weren’t going to be able change that status so you got on with it. 

That separation became permanent following his untimely death which may just have served as the catalyst for a rebirth for the band. I suppose this is a long winded way of saying that if the lack of Brent will stop you from even trying a song from this, then you should leave and listen to something else.

Ok, now to the album.

So as you follow their progression from battering ram with a mad smile through to the more complex progressions and dense storytelling, we land at the modern version of the band, where they had moved beyond just heavy metal, and just played heavy music that went wherever it needed to. 

The death of Hinds as well as Brann’s mother played a massive part in tone here, and the opening of Barbarians Blood is straight into that measure; its lush, built off a scale that is constantly moving. Its them, unmistakeably so. Guitar lines that fold in on themselves, the dual vocals of Troy and Brann are present and an arrangement that goes everywhere. 

It doesn’t sound that far removed from Hushed And Grim but possesses a greater urgency to it. Subconsciously needing to write the best material they could weighed heavily on them, and for me this is a much more accessible album. 

There is a section on Poisonous Weapons with Brann singing over one of those mint progressions that they just throw up on a whim. Do the lead breaks have the Brent Stamp? Of course not, how could they and it would be insensitive to try to do that. 

Your Ghost Again is a cracker, one that you assume would have had Brent’s singing on it but without they are pushing as hard as they can to excise any negative feeling remaining. One thing that is clear is that there is no scraping of barrels from albums past; They are still creative, still writing music that you want to play yourself. 

Snakes For Dinner with Josh Homme making an appearance is another strong effort which solidifies their approach – its heavy when it needs to be, but not if it doesn’t fit the song itself. 

There are softer moments on here such as In The Ruins where the everything is dialled back but you know it won’t stay like that for long and it doesn’t. The fact that it went the way you thought it would does not make it a lesser song because having that dynamic to it makes it a better song than if it had stayed in its meek form.

The lead work is very good, Golden Spires being a wonderful example of this, nestled in amongst a superb riff set that channels tasteful delivery and pure skill and its something that repeats across the album on the whole. 

They wrap up an hour or so with The Three Fates. In the past they have left a jewel at the end and with this one, I’m not quite sure. Of all the tracks this one could have been trimmed a little and it would have been better received.

It’s the sound of a band that has recaptured a feeling that was previously lost to them. The fact that Brent left has allowed them to move into their next phase, like marriage sometimes they fail and the separate parties have to move and evolve or risk repeating the same mistakes. 

Its recorded as a 5 piece now, with a keyboardist in tow to further fill that sound out. They do this in the right way, its not in your face and changing the sound dramatically, rather you just notice it and approve.

It is a song or two heavy; I will say that but if you consider that they had a lot to say I’m not going to penalise them for it. 

Each song has its own uniqueness to it, from a vocal delivery to a progression to a lead break, its so rich in what it offers the listener that even with a run time that could have been trimmed it is still one of the albums of the year for me. 9/10

Flotsam & Jetsam - Rats In The Temple (Napalm Records) [Matt Bladen]

RATS! RATS IN THE TEMPLE! I can almost see the face of the horrified priest as he screams, running from the pulpit as the mutated creatures gnaw their way through the walls. It's the kind of B-Movie silliness that has been closely associated with thrash metal.

However Flotsam & Jetsam are more than just your typical thrash metal band, yes they came out of the late 80's and even featured a bassist who would go on to be in Metallica, but since their 2019 album The End Of Chaos they have adopted a sound that sits them closer to the American power metal style.

Think Metal Church, Jag Panzer and you'll be in the right ballpark. Aggressive riffs, blast beats and tough vocals that come from the thrash side but with melodic lead guitars and choruses that are made to be shouted out loud as they deliver more dark tales of death, abuse, betrayal, and war, subjects that just fit the Flotsam & Jetsam aesthetic.

Eric AK Knutson's vocals are excellent, he snarls, shouts, wails, a powerhouse who has been leading the band since 1982, sounding as good now as he did then, better even.

Guitarists Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley share the rapid fire riffs on the blistering The Ghost Behind My Door and the widdly trade offs on The Edge Of Nowhere aland Last Rites, where Ken Mary (drums) keep the pace breakneck as William Bodily (bass) brings a tough groove to A Taste For War, locking in with Mary.

There are Rats In The Temple but Flotsam & Jetsam are ready to exterminate them with their sixteenth studio album and Napalm Records debut. 8/10

Those Made Broken - A Door You Can Never Close (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

I had to do some research when I started listening to A Door You Can Never Close, as over a decade ago there was a post grunge band from Glasgow called Logan, they sounded a lot like Creed and Nickelback but also managed to creep their way into classic grunge bands like Alice In Chains.

The research I did was to see if fellow Glasgow band Those Made Broken shared any members from that band as they also have a grunge/post-grunge sound, but there's brings the likes of Karnivool and Soen to mind with an emotional alt rock sound, perhaps a more refined version of what they were doing before.

It's turns out this was not the case as singer John Murray and guitarist Scott Wood met at Glasgow music college and formed a band, joined by bassist Paul Robertson (ex-Dirt) and drummer Martin John 'Hutch' Hutchison (ex-Vega).

A Door You Can Never Close is their sophomore record and refines their alt rock to its most melodic and atmospheric, hooked on huge choruses such as Monsters.

Those Made Broken make sure that the songs speak for themselves, little messing around, just hard hitting tracks that are made for the stage, performed with conviction by musicians that all excel at their individual roles.

From the spacious drumming of Martin John, through the sprawling bass of Paul on the grooving These City Walls, Scott's guitar playing has the technicality and feel of Mark Tremonti on These City Walls and Have Everything as John Murray has one of the clearest, emotive and refined voices I've heard in a long time..

Beneath all the songs there's a vein of synths/keys that run through the whole record just creating atmospheric expression, taking over completely on final track Rest. These electronics take the band to a more accomplished place than many would be on their second album in my opinion.

So while there's no link to Logan, much like I loved them, I love Those Made Broken, I just how that they manage to break out of being an underground sensation into being the the next big thing, as on this evidence they deserve it. 9/10

Devil Master - Bloody Dreams (Relapse Records) [Mark Young]

I don’t think it happens often that I don’t like something from the off. Bloody Dreams is one of those occasions where I just found it a massive waste of time. 

Is it me? Maybe, but let’s blame them instead. Its 6 songs that bounce between metal and punk, with a lo-fi sound that sits within the just about recorded state to give it a touch of authenticity. 

I couldn’t find anything here that I liked, and it’s not that I haven’t sat with this and give it a fair go. The songs just pass by without leaving a mark on me, and while I appreciate that they have a following and that the punk/crust approach works for some, I just couldn’t get onboard with it.

So, to try and avoid a hatchet job where I write some snarky words in an effort to make myself look better, lets settle on the fact that I didn’t like it. 

One positive is that the songs are by and large short affairs, and where they do stray into longer territory, they try to keep the speed up to ensure that you don’t get bored by them. Its likely that watching them live will be a different beast altogether, which is true for a lot of bands who excel on stage but struggle to capture it in the studio. 

It is certain that there will be more receptive people out there than me and this will appeal to fans of that blackened/crust/punk mix, delivered with a horror edge to it. I wish I could be more positive, but I can’t. I’m sure that they won’t lose any sleep over it. 5/10

Nephila are a band that treats the 1970s not as a museum piece but as a doorway.

Formed in Arvika, deep in the Värmland forests, back in 2017, the masked seven-piece made their name on a heady brew of vintage heavy rock, psych and space-rock strut – two women trading vocal lines over a pair of guitars and a churning organ. 

Their self-titled 2021 debut did well enough to land a P3 Guld nomination and now Five years on, Huldra arrives as the follow-up, and it is a markedly darker, stranger beast.

Huldra is a concept album, and a genuinely ambitious one. It takes its cue from the skogsrå – the Hulda of Nordic folklore, the forest spirit who lures wanderers off the path with a lovely face and, depending on which telling you believe, a hollow back or a cow's tail hidden under her skirts. 

Nephila run each of the record's nine tracks as another chapter in her story, but the clever move is what they make her stand for. 

In the band's reading she is less a monster than a mirror: a figure for every woman ever feared or hounded for the sin of belonging to only herself, for wanting independence, or power, or simply the freedom of the treeline over the tidy expectations of the village. 

It is folklore pressed into service as something pointedly modern, myth as a way of talking about autonomy and about our nervous fascination with everything that lives beyond the fence.

The grooves that made the debut so moreish are still present and correct, but they have been dragged somewhere colder and heavier, the vintage warmth traded for something that broods. 

It helps that Nephila are, frankly, a lot of band: two vocalists in Josephine Asker and newest recruit Linn Edlund, two guitarists in Hellenrud and Anton Athley, Charlie Andersson Vistbacka on bass, Johan Larsson's organ fattening the middle and Johan Lööf driving the lot from the kit. 

When they lean in, the result is a proper wall of sound; when they pull back, those two voices do genuinely eerie things in the gaps. 

Anyone raised on Graveyard, Lucifer or Blues Pills will find plenty to grab hold of, though Huldra is a grimmer prospect than any of them. They spring from the same fertile Swedish retro-heavy seam as Graveyard and Witchcraft before them, but where a good deal of that scene is content to bask in warm analogue nostalgia, Nephila are actively trying to escape its gravity, and this, for the most part, is the sound of them managing it.

Mother Of The Woods opens the record, and reads as the album's invocation, the summoning of the spirit before the story proper gets going. but a concept record this considered is unlikely to squander its first move on anything less than scene-setting, and I would expect it to lay out the ground rules: the groove, the gloom, and those two voices calling into the dark. 

The title alone – mother, woods, the source from which the rest of the story flows – suggests an origin point, the record handing you its mythology before it starts complicating it.

In Her Hands is one of the more immediate things on offer, a rolling, insistent groove that wears its hooks on the outside. It's the sort of track that lets you into the record before it starts asking the harder questions, and that parenthetical subtitle tells you plenty about where the album's head is at: seduction and captivity, the Huldra's two faces, folded straight into the chorus.

The Hidden Folk is where the folklore really takes hold, all creeping menace and close harmony, the two singers circling one another like something half-glimpsed between the trunks. It is a fine advert for what this incarnation of Nephila does that the old one didn't – the retro swagger survives, but it has been iced over, and the effect is a good deal more unsettling for it.

Ash Their Bones promises the record's nastiest turn – a bonfire of a track, if there's any justice, and shrewdly placed at the album's quarter mark to stop the mood settling into mere prettiness. On a record about what the forest does to those who wander in, a song named for burning bones is unlikely to be a lullaby.

Capercailles Hymn borrows its name from the capercaillie, the great booming forest grouse whose dawn courtship is one of the eeriest sounds in the Scandinavian woods, a nice bit of folklore-nerdery that suggests the band have done their reading. 

Sight unheard, I would wager it for one of the album's quieter, more ritual moments: the hush in the clearing before the back half turns dark again.

Huldra, the title track and lead video, is the thesis in miniature and the best possible shop window for the new sound. It sets the band's old rolling groove against a guitar tone with real teeth and an atmosphere that slides from mystical to menacing and back, the two vocalists selling the spirit's double nature – alluring one moment, predatory the next with impressive control. 

If you want to know in four minutes whether this darker Nephila is for you, start here. It's also, tellingly, the track they chose to lead with visually. The accompanying video leaning hard into the band's mask-and-shadow theatre and doing a neat job of selling the album's world before you've heard a second of the rest of it.

Solar Eclipse brings a wider, more cosmic sweep, the space-rock end of Nephila's palette given room to drift before the pull of the earth (and the forest) hauls it back down. It's a useful reminder that, for all the Nordic-folk framing, this is still a band with one boot planted firmly in the psychedelic cosmos.

Living Grave is the album's psychological gut-punch and, for my money. Built on a lurching, dissociative groove, it dramatises the moment you catch your own reflection and find something else looking back – the self-coming quietly apart as the forest closes in around it. 

The dual vocals are put to genuinely disquieting use here, one voice the person and the other the thing wearing their face, and the heavier, brooding direction pays off completely. If the rest of the record hits like this, Huldra is a triumph.

F.I.N.N closes the album, and it delivers a great ending to what have been overall some great storytelling.

Trading the easy warmth of retro heavy rock for something colder, weirder, and considerably more demanding has been gamble that appears to have paid off handsomely. There is a related danger in the atmosphere itself: lean too hard on gloom and cinematic sweep and you can end up admiring a record rather than loving it. 

But the folklore-as-feminism reading hands Huldra a spine that a lesser concept album would lack, and a seven-piece with two voices this strong has more tools than most for keeping the thing alive across its full running time.

Coming from a band who could have played it safe and pointedly didn't, Huldra shapes up as one of the more intriguing releases of the year a record that walks willingly into the dark and, on the strength of what I’ve heard, seems in no great hurry to come back out. 8/10

Fen - Elemental Part One: Mourning Earth (Prophecy Productions) [Matt Bladen]

Atmospheric black metal, post black metal, there's a whole list of genre tags you could use for East Anglian band Fen but they've always been a band who are unafraid to shift their creative boundaries.

With seven previous albums behind them, the founding duo of The Watcher (vocals/guitar/synth) and Grungyn (bass/vocals) have been guiding the ever shifting extreme fringe metal of Fen since its creating in 2006. Since 2020 they've been joined by drummer JG and with Elemental Part One: Mourning Earth they seek to follow up the fantastic 2023 release Monuments To Absence.

It's a record that sees them return to their roots, to the fens that they take their name from, mystical and mythical, they move away from the metallic intensity that was their last album allowing this one to breathe a lot more as they step back into the style they first emerged with, though with the knowledge of 20 years of what Fen should be.

Recorded live to allow it to undulate and evolve naturally, Mourninal Earth feels elemental, as if drawn from the world around it and conducted through this trio of creatives, it means that when things need to breathe they can as lucid atmospherics and clean moments of wonder taking in the sheer beauty of the landscape while benath it lies danger and a sense of dread created by the destructive black metal assault.

It's a record where you can't focus on individual phases, you have to take it all in as a whole joint the band on this sonic journey as they have intended, through nearly 47 minutes of magnificence. If you're still hungry for more then the special edition features two more original tracks along with covers of W.A.S.P, The Cure and Crosby, Stills And Nash.

If the varied nature of the artist covered doesn't tell you how versatile Fen are as a band then I don't know what to say, just let Elemental Part One: Mourning Earth wash over you with it's excellence, here's hoping the next part isn't too far away. 9/10

Miscreance - Reminiscence (Season Of Mist) [Mark Young]

Despite their protestations in the accompanying bio, there is a large debt to death amongst others within Miscreance’s sound, and I think its important to get that out of the way first. Protestations is probably too strong, but I liked it and have managed to shoehorn it into this review twice. 

Their nod to the ‘classics’ is clear but that doesn’t mean that they just copy and approximate with no talent of their own. Trait d’Union starts in their own fashion, an introduction that is ill-fitting to an album of death metal until they remember what they should be doing and break out the technical rhythms in a way that confirms that there is so much more to them than just technical death metal. 

There is a section here that owes more to Mastodon than anyone else, a mesmeric guitar line that comes in like a spider weaving an oversized web. It’s all familiar yet new, and personally if they are looking at amping up the classics then I’m all for it. 

As the opener fades Vision drops in and they display more of that technical aggression. It follows a classic arrangement – fast riffs, then faster before they decide to turn things back on itself. Its not that they are playing fast and loose, its more that they just happen to know what works and what doesn’t. 

Midway there’s a switch in vocal styles which adds a manic edge to proceedings instead of pole-axing any momentum built. Two tracks in and we are looking at a band that is on top of their game in terms of picking the right riff, the right drum pattern.

I appreciate that basing a review off the first two songs is a risky gambit, but there’s nothing to worry about with the songs that follow; Scalp Ceremony is a tight three minutes of focused bottom end riffs and melodic flourishes that concentrates on squeezing as much into this time as possible. 

The lead break on Synaptic Cortex Dissection that flows into a riff break that reduces in bodily substance is something else. You expect them to wrap that break up by dropping into the heavy attack but nope, they go the other way. It’s that commitment to making these songs theirs that shines through. 

For those who want to decry them as being a sound-a-like, knock yourself out. On the other hand if you want some top class technical death metal with a beating heart, then step on up. What they do is to skilfully mix hard edged guitar parts with melodic lines that spin around you. 

Check the end of Oracle’s Rift for an example of this; a simple repetitive riff that allows them to break out the leads over the top of it. And bring bongos too.

If you consider that at some point, they have to have a lull, a point where a song doesn’t hit the relative heights of others on here, I mean you’d think that it’s a given. And you would be wrong. 

The later songs do follow a certain template, and I suggest that this cannot be avoided due to the music they play; the urge to be able to throw those spidery rhythm lines so they can break out the leads must be undeniable. 

The difference is that the material is strong, Zenith Of A Dying Sun shares that common DNA with Vision but is not a carbon copy of it. It’s a band where its component parts are firing in equal measures giving you a balanced and incredibly satisfying 37 minutes of technical freak out. 

Of course, the final song has the ability to make or break things so obviously Mirage starts like it is on a mission, one that is devoted to a song that seems to wrap in on itself until its replaced by acoustic guitars playing a repeating measure. 

And that is that. 9 songs that represent a high standard of technical death metal that have enough of an eye to the classics to know what very good sounds like whilst stamping their own manic energy on them. They are certainly one to look out for. 8/10

Korpse – Forbid (Unique Leader Records) [Spike]

Sometimes you don't need a sprawling, hour-long concept record to get the point across. You just need three tracks of pure, concentrated hostility.

Dutch slam and brutal death metal veterans Korpse have had a rough ride over the past couple of years, weathering plenty of personal and band turmoil.

But instead of letting circumstances derail them, they’ve channelled every ounce of that frustration straight into the amplifiers. The result is Forbid, a short, merciless three-track EP released via Unique Leader that hits with genuine, weapons-grade anger.

The title track, Forbid, kicks down the door and sets the tone immediately with a spoken sample: "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." That Martin Luther King Jr. quote nails the ethos of this release right to the wall.

It gives the track an immediate, sharp bite before Floor van Kuijk’s guitars and Marten van Kruijssen’s battering drums drop like an anvil. Sven van Dijk’s vocals remain utterly inhuman, a cavernous, guttural roar that doesn't mask the lyrics behind studio tricks, but hurls them right into your face.

They keep the pressure relentless on Imminent Immolation. There’s no easing off the gas here; it’s a tight, suffocating display of slamming death metal that balances sheer velocity with bone-breaking half-time grooves.

Ante Zorić’s bass tone has a filthy, clattering presence in the bottom end that gives every slam section a physical, stomach-turning punch. It’s brutal, ugly, and played with the kind of laser focus that only comes from seasoned players who genuinely live and breathe this sound.

Then comes the curveball to close the EP: a cover of Lamb Of God’s Now You've Got Something To Die For. Taking an iconic, arena-sized modern groove metal anthem and running it through a death metal meat grinder is always a risky move, but Korpse completely make it their own.

They strip away any lingering radio sheen, slowing the main riff down into a sickening, concrete-heavy stomp and replacing Blythe’s rasp with Sven’s subterranean growl. It shouldn't work as well as it does, but it ends up sounding like a natural extension of their own scorched-earth catalogue.

Clocking in at just under ten minutes, Forbid doesn't give you time to get comfortable. It’s a furious, cathartic purge from a band refusing to stay down, and it feels absolutely awesome to listen to. 

If this is where Korpse are heading after surviving their recent hurdles, the next full-length is going to be terrifying. 9/10

l

The cliche rainy festival weather finally caught up to Newark Showgrounds for Stonedead Festival, but that didn't dampen the spirits of the festival goers. The parking for both campers and non campers is perfect as the event is easy just to walk in and walk out. 

So if you need to put some band merch or goodies from the stalls away in your car or to go and have a nap in your tent, it's not a long trudge. Held once a year, it was muddy, wet, thankfully not too cold, so still fairly temperate, never the less people sat in their chairs, stood in their spots watching, drinking, eating, enjoying the weekend merriment.

Stalls and food sets are more like a circular layout than this over here or that over there, whether you're shopping or hungry easy to find for what you fancy being band merch, maybe some patches, a curry, sandwiches or some nice jewellery.

The Stonedead volunteer crew is more like a family than a unit like everyone is familiar with each other than just strangers looking for festival work put together, no egos, no cliques, everyone steps in, Krusher Joule of course was Krusher, being who he's always been but makes it work as an MC of the festival with anecdotes and unapologetic humour.

Aethoria (7) were up first, energetic, moving between fast and slow parts easily, while also bringing the melodic a mixed blend musical flow. A good opening for the festival, and I'll also mention that they were very elegant and polite when addressing the crowd not even swearing. (What nice boys - Ed)

Next it got louder with Asomvel (8). All leather jackets, snarling vocals, double kick bass drums, a bassist that plays lead as the band put their sound through a huge stacks of Marshall amps (Remind you of anyone?) Never the less they are their own band and play the mix of rock n roll and speed metal, encouraging audience participation with I Was Born To Rock N Roll and Asomvel want them to shout and be passionate about it. They even gave a sneak peak of new material from Set Your World On Fire as Stonedead was lucky to hear that.

Pennsylvania based band Crobot (6) were following that. Not to be confused with Crowbar, this is very much groove metal/rock that gets your toes tapping, as well as head banging, for those that can of course. They have an element of the American blues still remains in their music which gives you a feeling as if you're driving and taking road trips or racking up for a game of billards in your local, easygoing an groovy, Crobot were a step toward the calmer tunes.

As soon as The Damn Truth (7) step on stage you've been sent back in time. Their look, the music has that late 60s early, 70s rock nostalgia feel while also keeping it present. Despite some minor technical errors, they made it work and giving it everything they got for the festival. They wer also the first band to get the beach ball going, while giving the Stonedead crowd first dibs on their album vinyl before release on Sept 11th this year.

Due to lateness, Armoured Saint's (7) set time was cut a bit short. Still to great to have John Bush (who most of us we remember from his time in Anthrax as well) with his original band, playing on a stage that wasn't one of the larger festivals in the UK. Probably a discovery for some, a long wait for nostalgia for others. Enjoyable to see Armored Saint do their thing despite their shorter set. 

Power metal graces the grounds of Stonedead with Battlebeast (9), who again had a few technical issues, but managed to get over them. Now fronted by Marina La Torraca (Phantom Elite/Exit Eden) they got the crowd very hyped for their full force power metal.Like many power metal bands they brought fire to the Stonedead stage though or in the case of the weather perhaps brought the storm.

Midlands rock legends Magnum (7) followed but again some more techicnal issues meant the vocals of Bob Catley were a bit off but this veteran band played on. With the audience of Stonedead full of longtime fans, they were warmly appreciated anyway, no matter what happened. So there was plenty of effort that thankfully got picked up later performance, lettinn longtime fans enjoying the nostalgia of this band and pay tribute to the departed Tony Clarkin. 

German metal legends Accept (9) made their Stonedead debut and the Teutonic metal crew, brought the pyro, the smoke, the aura with them and some confetti cannons too but they bring it with twin axe attack. With the band celebrating being Half a Century old, this was a celebration. They brought John Bush on stage for a song and while doing their final number Balls To The Wall, halfway through the second chorus,the tech blew out. 

There came a chuckle, the band and audience seeing the funny side to it. We all sang along till the tech was fixed and so it was and away they all went back to the song. Accept play heavy metal classics but you must give to the band props for their choreography making it a whole a performance together rather than just playing in their spots, true heavy metal legends. 

Mainly known to the world and mainstream listeners as the band who sang the Final Countdown, Europe (9) have many moresongs than that, in recent years releasing some of their best work as they have moved toward a bluesier hard rock sound. Thankfully the Stonedead crowd are discerning and are familiar with the majority of their songs. Europe's presence now is as just entertaining as it was in the 80s even though the wardrobe, and the hair has changed. 

Playing older and newer material the fans were cheering every moment of the experience, which due to the rules of Stonedead will be their one and only time seeing them at the festival so they had to make it count since if you wanna catch them again it will be at a different gig or festival. Closing the festival with 'that song' will always make sure you bring the house down and that's excatly what Europe did.

In closing whether you wish to camp and stay over or just want a one and done festival experience while enjoying bands of both then and now, classic and upcoming, then pop or should I say rock to the Midlands for this soon to be almost a decade well established event from to the fans to the fans. 

It's value for your tickets and wallet plus as said before you have to make the memories count when bands you enjoy or get familiar with for future enjoyment only play here once. So you really make it count big time that's their choice, not mine unlike other festivals that bring back bands. 

So Stonedead festival is worthy of being up there like the steelhouse festival, need I say more.